DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion

2024 Graphic Culture Research Grants Application Requirements
1. AimGrants are awarded to support research related to graphic design or graphic art from the perspectives ofdiverse disciplines, including both the humanities and sciences. The principal aim of the program is tocontribute to the development of graphic culture and the promotion of academic research in Japan andaround the world.
2. Target research fields
Category A: Research on graphic design or graphic art in general
Research on a wide range of academic fields related to graphic culture, including graphic design,
typography, printing, printmaking, and photography. For example: art history, design history, aesthetics, art
theory, museology, art education, comparative culture theory, image engineering, technique materials &conservation science, psychology, law, economics, etc.
Category B: Research on graphic culture-related archives
For example: creation of an archive related to graphic culture, including graphic design, typography,printing, printmaking, and photography; study and analysis of historical materials contained in an existingarchive; basic research on archives per se, including proposals of an organization method or data model.
3. Eligibility
Grant candidates must be scholars—either individuals or groups—engaging in research relating to graphic
design or graphic art.
(1) Full-time researchers (teachers, curators, researchers, archivists, librarians, etc.) enrolled atuniversities, museums and other research institutions.
(2) Part-time researchers or postgraduate students enrolled at universities, museums, or other research
institutions whom a university professor, director, or equivalent recommend.
(3) Individual researchers who do not belong to a specific institution, etc., and who are recommended by auniversity professor, director, or equivalent.
* The nominator must be a person with expertise in the field, such as a supervisor (past supervisors are alsoacceptable) or someone in a higher position.
4. Grant period(1) The grant period is either:
One year: January 1st, 2025, to December 31st, 2025
Two years: January 1st, 2025, to December 31st, 2026
Please specify when applying.
(2) If the grant period is two years, the judgment regarding a grant for the second year will be determinedby the screening committee based on an interim report. If not approved, the grantee shall submit a final
report by January 31st, 2026, on the research conducted up to that date.

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5. Grant amount(1) The screening committee decides the number of grants each year and their respective amounts. Award
amounts vary according to the content of the intended research, with an upper limit of 500,000 JPY peryear.
(2) In the case of two years, please indicate the application amount separately for the first year and thesecond year when applying for the first year. The amount of each year is determined by the screening
committee when applying for the first year. The second-year grant will be paid in January 2025.
(3) In the case of two years, grantees can carry over the remainder of the first-year grant to the secondyear.
(4) Grantee shall return the remainder of the grant that was not used after the grant period ends.
6. Grant usage(1) The grant may be used only to cover expenses directly related to the research. These include costs
incurred for related travel, attendance at conferences, fees and honorariums, reference materials andsupplies.
(2) The grant may not be used to cover indirect costs incurred by the grantee or the affiliated organization,
the grantee’s daily allowance, general and administrative expenses, overhead costs, publication andprinting costs, exhibition expense, etc. Please consult the Foundation if the affiliated organization has
made payment of administrative expenses an obligation.
(3) Grantees shall specify usage of the grant funds when applying for the first year. Any change to the useof the grant requires the permission of the Foundation in advance.
7. Awards from other foundations
Grantees shall be permitted to simultaneously receive a separate grant from another organization, as well as
to apply for a grant or grants from other sources simultaneously.
8. Documents for submission
Grantees shall be required to submit the following documents using prescribed forms. If the interim report,
research execution report, and accounting report is not submitted within the specified deadline without areasonable reason, the grantee must return all the grant amount. The prescribed forms for submissions areavailable on the Foundation website.
(1) Written oath(2) Remittance request(3) Interim report
Not necessary in the case of one year. If two years, please submit by November 7, 2025.
(4) Accounting report
In the case of one year, the grantee shall submit it within one month after the end of the grant period.
In the case of two years, the grantee shall submit it twice, for the first year by November 7, 2025, andthe remainder one month after the grant period ends.
(5) Research execution reportAll grantees shall be required to submit this within one month after the end of the grant period.
2DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion(6) Research paper
Abstract: In both Japanese (400 to 600 characters) and English (180 to 270 words)
Body: In Japanese (7,000 to 10,000 characters) or English (2,800 to 4,600 words). The cited length
requirement excludes endnotes, bibliography, figures, archive lists, etc.
All grantees who have finished the grant period shall submit the research paper within one month after
the end of the grant period.
9. Obligation to report
If there is any change in the contents stated in the application, please notify the Foundation immediately.
Especially, but without limitation, the following items require reporting.
(1) Change of affiliation and contact address(2) Change of usage of the grant(3) When it becomes difficult to continue the research
10. Publication of research results(1) Any time a grantee subsequently publishes a paper on the assisted research in an academic journal oras a separate publication, clear mention should be made that the research was funded (in part orotherwise) by the DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion.
(2) The Foundation reserves the right to feature the research paper mentioned in Article 8 (6) in its TheBulletin of Graphic Culture Research Grants, without financial remuneration. (The Foundation will
also post the abstract on its website.)
11. Application procedure
Submit your research proposal online using the Graphic Culture Research Grants Application System. For
more information, see the Foundation's website. The languages supported are Japanese and English.
DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion website
https://www.dnpfcp.jp/foundation/grants/
12. Screening process and notification of results
The screening committee will select the grant winners, and the applicants will be notified of the results onthe Application System. The adopted research will be published on the Foundation's website. In the eventof rejection, the selection process and reasons will not be disclosed.
13. Timetable
Application period:
April 1, 2024, to June 14, 2024 (arrival)
Notification of results: October 2024
Award payment:
December 2024
14. Payment of grant(1) Together with notification of their grant, grant winners will receive a payment request form. Upon
receipt of the completed form, the Foundation will transfer the grant amount to the grantee’s
designated bank account.
(2) It also is possible to make the payee of the grant the affiliated organization. Accounting of grant can be
managed by either of the grantee his/herself and the affiliated organization.
15. Handling of personal information
The Foundation will use the personal information acquired through this research grants program only forthis program and not for any other purpose. The data will not be provided to a third party without the priorconsent of the person, except for the subcontractor required for the implementation of this program or cases
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specified by laws and regulations.
16. Handling of anti-social forces
Any application by an anti-social force or person related to anti-social force will not be accepted. If it
becomes clear after payment of the grant that the grantee relates to anti-social forces, the grantee shallreturn the grant.
17. Inquiries
Research Grants
DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion
DNP Ginza Building 7-2, Ginza 7-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)3-5568-8224
Fax: +81-(0)3-5568-8225
E-mail: dnp-foundation-grants@team.dnp.co.jp
18. 2024 Screening Committee
Toshino Iguchi, Professor, Saitama University
Kenji Kajiya, Professor, The University of Tokyo
Yuko Kikuchi, Professor, Kanazawa college of art
Fujio Maeda, Visiting Professor, Chubu University; Professor Emeritus, Keio University
Seishi Namiki, Professor, Kyoto Institute of Technology; Director, KIT Museum and Archives
Yasuhito Nagahara, Professor, Tama Art University; Graphic Designer
Akira Tatehata, President, Tama Art University; Director, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama

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